WEATHERFORD – The SWOSU men's basketball team suffered a third loss in as many games after Arkansas Tech won 59-44 on Thursday. A tough shooting stretch through the middle of the second half sunk SWOSU's chances for the victory.
 
Offensive woes plagued the Bulldogs for most of the second half. They made just three field goals in the half and went a little over 13 minutes without making a field goal. Defensively they held ATU to just 6-30 shooting in the latter half, but couldn't find the offensive output to comeback. 
 
The opening 20 minutes brought more excitement. SWOSU held their largest lead at 9-3 early on. The teams traded the lead back and forth before a 15-6 extended run for the Wonder Boys pushed their advantage to 11 and it ended the first half at nine.
 
Ben Smith pushes his double-digit scoring streak to 17 games with a team high 14 points. He nearly secured a double-double with nine rebounds as well. Mark Berry and Jalen Johnson were the other double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
SWOSU shot 14-47 (29.8%) from the field and 4-19 (21.1%) from three. ATU finished 20-57 (35.1%) overall and 5-16 (31.3%) from beyond the arc. The paint was an area of focus for the Wonder Boys. SWOSU was outrebounded 43-36 and allowed 30 points in the paint.
 
With three more games until the GAC Tournament, SWOSU stands at 8-11 in conference play. They will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when they host Harding at 3 pm.